Laughter is a part of human behavior regulated by the brain, helping humans clarify their intentions in social interaction and providing an emotional context to conversations. The study of humor and laughter, and its psychological and physiological effects on the human body, is called gelotology.

Neurophysiology indicates that laughter is linked with the activation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex that produces endorphins. Parts of the limbic system, the hippocampus and the amygdala, are also involved in laughter.